With myRiverfest, it’s your Riverfest, your way
Howerton+White, Inc. has introduced a new way for Riverfest attendees to create their own Riverfest experience at myRiverfest.com, accessible through the traditional and mobile versions of the site.
The festival is scheduled for May 7 – 15, and annually attracts over 300,000 people to downtown Wichita. With nine days of back-to-back events, the application will help visitors plan their preferred activities.
“With myRiverfest, users will be able to view the schedule, choose events they are interested in and create a custom calendar. Then, users can send the calendar to their email and share with family and friends. Event choices will also appear in the current events section on the mobile home page,” says Nicole Howerton, principal and co-creative director at Howerton+White. A short name makes later retrieval easy, from any computer or touch-screen mobile device. “This also offers visitors the opportunity to receive special offers and news about their favorite events from festival organizers.”
The idea was the brainchild of the agency staff. “We’re always looking at ways to create a better conversation between our clients and their customers, focusing on ease of use, accessibility and engagement,” says Howerton.
H+W client Wichita Festivals, Inc. will garner valuable information, as well.
“We’re very excited about the enhanced capabilities to the mobi site this year. By being able to track what events are of more interest to people and which ones aren’t, we can better tailor the Festival to our customers. This is a great tool for attendees that only want to come to specific types of events, or those that want to customize a personal festival schedule for themselves over the nine-days,” stated Susan Burchill, Director of Marketing, Wichita Festivals, Inc.
Senior Programmer Alan Kennedy says the agency has created profile systems before, but this is the first where the focus was easy retrieval from multiple devices. “We’re also looking at adding a Facebook integration feature,” Kennedy says.
CUA's New Home Equity Commercial Designed by Howerton + White
Howerton+White recently produced a 30-second television spot for Credit Union of America, the state’s second largest credit union. Titled “Home Equity Credit Crunch” the spot began airing during coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The spot promotes the option of a home equity loan from the Credit Union of America as other financial institutions tighten credit policies.
The spot was produced in-house at Howerton+White with motion graphics. Artists scanned pieces of paper in the shape of a house, fence posts, trees and birds. The illusion of the movement of these objects evolved when a series of frames were played in a continuous sequence.
Designer Danielle Quint explains, “The idea of taking such a simple element —white folded paper — and transforming it to tell a story truly distinguished this piece from other financial spots. The combination of elements in this commercial communicates a fun, friendly and welcoming vibe for a widespread audience.” Team members on this job included: Bryan Malone and Nicole Howerton, Creative Directors; Craig Tomson, Art Director; Danielle Quint, Designer; Sheree Gerig, Copywriter; and Kristin Wright, Account Coordinator.
The theme fashioned for this television spot inspired the latest interior and exterior signage for all Credit Union of America locations. Vice President of Marketing, Glenda Burkett, says, “Our members are very aware of the new direction we are striving towards regarding CUA’s image. The commercial was well received by our staff and members. We‘re looking forward to working with Howerton + White as our full-service agency on future projects.”
Credit Union of America is the second largest credit union in the state of Kansas. Their branch network includes ten total branches, eight located in the Wichita area, one in Derby, and another in Great Bend.
KCLI Piece Receives Silver Wilmer Shields Award
A report produced for the Kansas Community Leadership Initiative (KCLI) by Howerton+White has received the 2009 Silver Wilmer Shields Rich Award in the special reports category from the Council on Foundations. KCLI is a program funded by the Kansas Health Foundation. The KCLI report was created to convey the impact that the Kansas Community Leadership Initiative (KCLI) has had on communities throughout Kansas.
The vibrant 27-page report, titled “Confidence to Lead,” is a visual representation of the impact on communities across the state as told by the leaders who participated. Beginning at the cover and continuing throughout the report a common thread is illustrated connecting five community leaders in Liberal, Hays, Pittsburgh, Rose Hill and Rossville and how leader volunteerism positively impacted their personal lives as well as the communities in which they reside.
The Wilmer Shields Rich awards originated in 1984 to showcase the way foundations and corporate giving programs use communication strategies and techniques to advance their grant making goals. The awards program was named after the National Council Community Foundations’ first executive director, Wilmer Shield Rich, who served from 1957 to 1968.
Upon reviewing the KCLI report, a health care advocate from out-of-state claimed that the piece “Made her want to move to Kansas!” Team members on this award-winning booklet include: Tami Bradley of Bothner&Bradley; Nicole Howerton, Creative Director; Craig Tomson, Art Director; Dianne Vallier and Danielle Quint, Designers; and Melody Mynatt, Account Executive.
Howerton+White Wins Most Awards and Best of Show at Wichita’s 2010 ADDY Awards
Howerton+White, Inc. garnered 30 awards, including Best of Show Award for the packaging design of Nikki Moddelmog’s CD, “Revolve”, 10 Gold ADDYs and 19 Silver ADDYs at the American Advertising Federation of Wichita (AdFed) Awards February 9.
In addition to Moddelmog, the awards were given for work done on behalf of the following: Kansas World Trade Center, Bartlett Arboretum, Wesley Medical Center, Museum of World Treasures, Sunflower Foundation, Wichita Downtown Development Corporation, Kansas Humane Society, Positive Directions, Visioneering Wichita, and the Kansas Health Foundation.
“It’s nice to see a broad spectrum of work recognized, including broadcast, print design, web site design, event and product promotion, and logo design,” said Bryan Malone. “We’ve built an agency that delivers on-target, high-quality work no matter the marketing challenge.”
Sanctioned by the American Advertising Federation, the ADDY Awards honor excellence in advertising and cultivate the highest creative standards in the industry. The competition begins at the local level with the 210 AAF member clubs nationwide, from which local winners proceed to 14 regional competitions, and those winners proceed to the national finals. The American Advertising (ADDY) Awards competition is the advertising industry's largest and most representative competition for creative excellence.
“The awards are a recognition of a tremendous amount of creative collaboration among our talented agency staff and our wonderful clients,” said Nicole Howerton. “Our agency focuses on creating marketing pieces that further the goals of our clients; the fact that this work has also been recognized by our peers is icing on the cake.”
…. Or perhaps nacho cheese on a warm giant pretzel? That’s the big congratulatory surprise Christan Baumer delivered as congratulations to the agency the next afternoon. Baumer, Marketing and PR Manager for the Sedgwick County Zoo, and manager of SCZ’s Plaza Beastro arrived with giant warm pretzels, a pretzel warming oven, and a nacho cheese machine … on loan for a few days. On behalf of everyone at Howerton+White, thank you! And a warm and cheesy thanks to all our clients!
List of Winning Addy Entries
